Computer Science
Britain urgently needs Computer Scientists!
The old ICT syllabus helped pupils to master various software products and have an awareness of the internet, but it lacked the technical computer hardware and software engineering that is necessary to move the current school population forward into the modern job market where huge skill shortages exist.
Portchester Community School follows a Computer Science syllabus incorporating some digital literacy at Key Stage 3.
Pupils at Key Stage 4 are offered OCR Computer Science GCSE.
Key Stage Three
The pupils will study:
- Computer Systems – input, processing, output, storage.
- Coding to create games (Construct 2).
- Digital editing (sound, graphics, video, animations).
- Cyber Security.
- Binary coding, units of measurement (Kb, Mb, Gb, Tb, Pb, KHz, MHz, GHz).
- Coding in high level languages (html, Python).
- Algorithms (Flowcharting, Pseudocode).
- Spreadsheets and Databases (Digital Literacy).
- Robotics.
- Artificial Intelligence.
- Moral and Social issues, digital safety.
Key Stage Four
Pupils who opt for Computer Science at Key Stage 4 will be following the OCR 2016 GCSE syllabus with grades available in the standard range 1-9. The syllabus will be updated in 2019.
Assessment comprises two 90 minute examinations each worth 50% of the total mark. Paper 1 is about technical aspects of computer infrastructure and software. Paper 2 is concerned with binary and hexadecimal coding, algorithms and programming techniques.
The course included a compulsory non-examined 20 hour unit in Python programming which is internally marked and externally moderated.
Coursework components are:
- Computer Systems.
- Input, Output, Storage.
- Types of memory, RAM, ROM.
- Computational thinking and algorithms.
- Systems architecture (Von Neumann), the fetch-decode-execute cycle.
- Network topography and protocols. WANs and LANs.
- System Security.
- System Software.
- Ethical, Legal, cultural and environmental issues.
- Algorithms.
- Programming concepts and techniques.
- Computational logic, Boolean algebra (AND, OR, NOT).
- Data representation, compression.
